Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. The cameras are part of the Remote Sensing Coastal Change project.
Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras shoot video for 10 minutes. Today’s most recent images are shown below. Please note that it takes about 15 minutes for the images to be posted, once they are collected by the camera.
Currently, USGS video cameras are active at these locations:
- Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California
- Head of the Meadow Beach, Massachusetts
- Marconi Beach, Massachusetts
- Norton Sound, Unalakleet, Alaska
- Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska
- Sunset State Beach, California
These and other images are used to remotely sense a range of processes, including:
- shoreline position,
- sandbar migration,
- rip-channel formation,
- wave run-up on the beach,
- alongshore current, and
- nearshore bathymetry.
The knowledge gained from these coastal camera studies will improve computer-derived simulations of shoreline change that communities can use to plan for sea-level rise, changing storm patterns, and other threats to beaches.
Please note: If old photos are displayed, cameras are temporarily offline.
Snapshot
The snapshot is the first frame of the video, just like a standard photo.
Timex (time-exposure) images
A timex is a time-averaged image of all frames, smoothing away surface waves and determining the location of persistent wave-breaking (indicative of shallow sandbars).
Variance images
A “variance” image shows the standard deviation of pixel intensity throughout the video, and it is useful for determining how much variation or movement is occurring at a given location.
Bright images
A “bright” image shows the brightest pixel values throughout the video, useful for identifying the position of maximum wave run-up on the beach, position of all breaking waves, and sea-state.
Dark images
A “dark” image shows the darkest pixel values throughout the video, useful for tracking sediment plumes, tracking floating debris, and filtering out breaking waves.
Below are the projects that use the data collected by the video cameras, as well as other locations where similar video cameras are or were previously installed.
Remote Sensing Coastal Change
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Santa Cruz Beaches
Climate impacts on Monterey Bay area beaches
Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
Using Video Imagery to Study Head of the Meadow Beach
Using Video Imagery to Study Marconi Beach
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
- Overview
Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. The cameras are part of the Remote Sensing Coastal Change project.
Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras shoot video for 10 minutes. Today’s most recent images are shown below. Please note that it takes about 15 minutes for the images to be posted, once they are collected by the camera.
Currently, USGS video cameras are active at these locations:
- Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California
- Head of the Meadow Beach, Massachusetts
- Marconi Beach, Massachusetts
- Norton Sound, Unalakleet, Alaska
- Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska
- Sunset State Beach, California
These and other images are used to remotely sense a range of processes, including:
- shoreline position,
- sandbar migration,
- rip-channel formation,
- wave run-up on the beach,
- alongshore current, and
- nearshore bathymetry.
The knowledge gained from these coastal camera studies will improve computer-derived simulations of shoreline change that communities can use to plan for sea-level rise, changing storm patterns, and other threats to beaches.
Please note: If old photos are displayed, cameras are temporarily offline.
Snapshot
The snapshot is the first frame of the video, just like a standard photo.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 1, looking northwest Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 2, looking northwest Timex (time-exposure) images
A timex is a time-averaged image of all frames, smoothing away surface waves and determining the location of persistent wave-breaking (indicative of shallow sandbars).
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 1, looking northwest Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 2, looking north Variance images
A “variance” image shows the standard deviation of pixel intensity throughout the video, and it is useful for determining how much variation or movement is occurring at a given location.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 1, looking northwest Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 2, looking north Bright images
A “bright” image shows the brightest pixel values throughout the video, useful for identifying the position of maximum wave run-up on the beach, position of all breaking waves, and sea-state.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 1, looking northwest Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 2, looking north Dark images
A “dark” image shows the darkest pixel values throughout the video, useful for tracking sediment plumes, tracking floating debris, and filtering out breaking waves.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 1, looking northwest Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Video camera 2, looking north - Science
Below are the projects that use the data collected by the video cameras, as well as other locations where similar video cameras are or were previously installed.
Remote Sensing Coastal Change
We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Santa Cruz Beaches
Two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. One camera looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk, while the other looks southward over Cowells Beach.Climate impacts on Monterey Bay area beaches
For beach towns around Monterey Bay, preserving the beaches by mitigating coastal erosion is vital. Surveys conducted now and regularly in the future will help scientists understand the short- and long-term impacts of climate change, El Niño years, and sea-level rise on a populated and vulnerable coastline.Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
USGS scientists installed two video cameras atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska, pointing westward over Norton Sound, to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, development of rip channels, bluff erosion, and movement of sandbars and ice floes.Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
Two coastal observing video cameras are installed atop a utility pole near the northernmost point of land in the United States, at Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska. The cameras point northwest toward the Arctic Ocean and the boundary between the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and will be used to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, bluff erosion, movement of sandbars and ice floes...Using Video Imagery to Study Head of the Meadow Beach
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff near Head of the Meadow Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, North Truro, MA. One camera looks alongshore toward the north-northeast, and the second looks directly offshore (northeast). The cameras are part of a U.S. Geological Survey research project to study the beach and nearshore environment shared by beachgoers, shorebirds, seals, and sharks. The work is...Using Video Imagery to Study Marconi Beach
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff above Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, MA. One camera looks alongshore toward the northeast, and the second looks directly offshore (east). The cameras are part of a U.S. Geological Survey research project to study the beach and nearshore environment shared by beachgoers, shorebirds, seals, and sharks. The work is being conducted under... - Multimedia
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.